The AfterShock
by sPaRkLe010
Summary: This story is set after the end of Season 3. Marissa did not die, and she is now going to move in with the Cohens. Read to see what happens to Ryan and Marissa when she moves in! RM and SS!
1. Chapter 1

What if Marissa didn't die??…………..

Instead of squealing away that night when Volchok ran Ryan and Marissa off the road, he done the right thing for once and turned the van around and drove towards the accident. They were able to get the unconscious Marissa to the hospital in time for the doctors to rehabilitate her. The whole way she never left Ryan's arms. Marissa was in the hospital for a couple of weeks and had many regular visitors. Ryan, Seth, and Summer paid her many visits a day, bringing her plenty of pancakes and "The Support Group". (Captain Oats and Princess Sparkle) During all of this drama, Julie found out about Dr. Roberts affair with his ex-wife, the step-monster, and she moved out of the Roberts mansion and into the Mermaid Inn, where she is staying while Marissa is in the hospital and until she can figure out a genius plan to get money for a apartment or condo. RISD called Seth back and as it turns out they can take him for the first semester too. So, Seth and Summer are busy planning their move to Rhode Island.

(This picks back up the day Marissa is getting out of the hospital, a couple of weeks after graduation.)

Cohen Kitchen (Ryan is fixing bagel and Seth enters from upstairs.)

**Seth**: Morning buddy. (pats Ryan on the back)

**Ryan**: (annoyed) Morning Seth.

**Seth**: So, Marissa is getting out today.

**Ryan**: Yeah….

**Seth**: So I just figured….well….ya know….you know what?? Nevermind.

**Ryan**: Seth. Marissa and I are not getting back together.

**Seth**: OH. Come on dude! You mean to tell me you just spent the last two weeks sitting up there at the hospital doing nothing??

**Ryan**: There is nothing going on.

**Seth**: Come on. You rescued her from a burning car and carried her to safety. Let's take a walk down memory lane shall we, our little trip to TJ- ended up with you carrying Marissa to safety, you get back to Newport and BOOM you two are glued at the hip for months. Then Oliver, then Luke, then Trey, then Johnny, then……

**Ryan**: (interrupts Seth) Seth.

**Seth**: So there's no "something"??

**Ryan**: (looks at Seth)

**Seth**: Not even a little somethin-somethin.

**Ryan**: Fine. Maybe a really, really, really, little something.

**Seth**: YES!!!!!!!!!!!

(Sandy walks in)

**Sandy**: Yes What??

**Seth**: Ryan and Marissa are getting back together!

**Ryan**: Seth! I did not say that.

**Sandy**: WHHHOOOOOO! (Shakes fists in the air) (looks at Ryan) You know I am always last to find out.

**Ryan**: (puts his hand on his head)

(Kirsten walks in)

**Sandy**: Morning, honey.

**Kirsten**: Good Morning, guys.

(phone rings) (Kirsten answers it)

**Kirsten**: Hello. ….. Hey Julie. …… Really?? Wow. …... Of course. ….. No, I promise, its not a problem. …… Julie I mean it, don't worry about it. …….. Ok, I'll call you in a little while.

**Seth**: What did she want this time??

**Kirsten**: Seth.

**Kirsten**: Ok. So you know how Julie is staying at the ummm….?

**Ryan**: The Mermaid??

**Kirsten**: Yeah! That's the one. Well, she doesn't want Marissa to have to come home from the hospital to a sleezy motel, so I told her that Marissa could stay here as long as she wanted too.

**Seth**: (looks at Ryan)

**Kirsten**: (Looks at Seth and Ryan and Sandy)

**Seth**: Well that shouldn't make things weird at all. (sarcastically)

**Kirsten**: Is that going to be a problem…???

**Ryan**: Of course not.

**Seth**: Yeah, Of course not (smirking)

**Ryan**: (asking Kirsten) Do you need me to pick her up? Or?

**Kirsten**: Ryan, that would be great.

**Kirsten**: Now, I'm going to go figure out where she is going to sleep.

(Kirsten and Sandy exit)

**Ryan**: Seth, don't.

**Seth**: (smiling) Oh no I won't. You will.

**Ryan**: What the hell does that even mean??

**Seth**: Remember the Yoo-Hoo story from last year?? Midnight "run-ins" involving yoo-hoos and underthingies.

**Ryan**: Yes Seth. I do. And it's not like that.

**Seth**: Oh of course it is.

**Ryan**: I'm going to go get ready to drive to the hospital.

(Ryan walks outside and towards the Pool House)

Seth's Room 

**Seth**: So here's the plan.

**Summer**: No Cohen! (looking at parka's on the internet) There is no plan. No meddling. No interfering in the Ryan/Marissa relationship- if that's even what you want to call it.

**Seth**: Summer PPUUULLLEEAASSEE? Just a little meddling??

**Summer**: No Seth. We are staying out of it. If Ryan and Marissa want to be together, then they will do it by themselves.

**Seth**: Maybe they need a little shove.

**Summer**: No. No Shove. No Push. Not even a little Poke. Now stand up. I have to measure you for our matching parka's.

**Seth**: (thinking) But we have to do _something_.

Hospital (Marissa is in the room by herself) (Her cell phone rings)

**Marissa: **(shaky, scared voice) hello?……...stop calling me, I mean it. (hangs up)

I know this Chapter was a little short but the next ones will be longer I promise. Stay tuned for the next chapter to see what happens when Marissa moves in with the Cohen's!!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Ok. First let me THANK all of you that posted the really nice reviews. This is my first story so it TOTALLY **made my day** when I read all the reviews begging for more.

Ok, so here it goes…..

Ryan enters hospital room 568. He looks around for Marissa, but doesn't see her.

"Hey." Marissa says, coming up behind Ryan.

Ryan turns around surprised. "All ready to go?"

"Yeah, almost" Marissa replied. "Hey, thanks for picking me up today."

"If I didn't, who would?" Ryan added, sarcastically.

Marissa laughs then grins, "Yeah, you have a point. I have no idea where my mom is, my dad sailed away again with out me, and Summer is too busy with Brown."

"Yeah, well at least you still have the Cohen's." Ryan paused. "And me."

"Yeah I do." Marissa smiles at Ryan.

Ryan smiles back. Then grabs her bags and heads for the exit. "Come on. Lets get out of this place."

Ryan is driving down the road in the shiny, black Range Rover with Marissa in the passenger seat. He looks over at her. 'How could she look so good, when she just got out of the _hospital_??' Ryan secretly thought to himself.

Marissa interrupts Ryan's deep thinking. "What time is it?"

"Um. Around 1:00. Why?"

"I was thinking- why don't we go some place….and talk?" Marissa suggested.

"Sounds good." Ryan replied with out hesitation.

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"So when do you leave for Freshman Orientation?" Summer asked Seth, as he finished off his burger at the diner.

"I take off on Saturday, which is only, hhmmm. 4 days away." Seth replied.

"So you're just going to leave me here with Ryan and Marissa? All by myself?" Summer whined.

"Aw Summer. They wont hurt you."

"Yeah, but at the rate they are going, I'm predicting a _major_ drama, within the next week!!" Summer tells Seth.

"It could just be days." Seth says worried.

They both look at each other, then continue eating their lunch.

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Ryan and Marissa are walking down the pier.

"So" Marissa pauses. "I'm sorry for all the drama I've caused in the past couple of months, you know, first Johnny, then Volchok."

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're okay" Ryan said reassuringly.

"It seems like such a big blur. I mean…."

Ryan agreed, "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"So are you mad at me?" Marissa asked questioningly.

"No. Of course not. Why would I be mad?"

"Because, I kind of caused Volchok to do that, which means I'm to blame for your car, and the accident, and…..I don't know. Its just all so confusing" Marissa looked down.

"Its not your fault." Ryan didn't know what to say.

Marissa looked at him. They stared into each others eyes, trying to figure out what the other was thinking. Marissa's phone rings, interrupting the awkward silence. Marissa takes the cell out of her purse, and looks at the caller ID. She quickly presses the ignore button and throws it back into her bag.

"Who was that?" Ryan questioned.

"Um. I don't know." Marissa doesn't even make up an excuse, but instead moves closer to Ryan as they walk down the pier.

"Volchok." Ryan said.

Marissa shivers and looks down at the sand.

"You don't have to be scared." Ryan says.

"I know." Marissa pauses. "Can I tell you something?"

"Anything" Ryan replies.

"When he calls to try and apologize, I kind of want to forgive him. I keep forgetting how horrible he has been to me. And you. And that's the thing that scares me." Marissa looks at Ryan, scared that he might get mad.

Ryan doesn't know what to say. "Maybe I should answer it next time." He grins.

Marissa grins, "Maybe."


	3. Chapter 3

**10:15 PM** - Marissa is in the Cohen guest room getting ready for bed when her phone rings for the third time.

"Hello?" Marissa said shivering. She had finally gave in and picked it up. There was no use in ignoring it the whole time she was staying here.

"Whatever you do, don't hang up. I mean it." Volchok replied forcefully.

Marissa remained silent, still shaking.

"I want you to come and meet me someplace. There is something I have to tell you."

"No. I won't. Tell me now or don't tell me at all." Marissa said bravely.

"I need to see you. If you don't come to meet me, I will come to you. And we all know you don't want that to happen do we?…" Volchok said.

"You don't even know where I'm at."

"We'll see about that wont we??….I know where you are staying, and you _don't _want me to come _there. _So meet me at the pier, tomorrow morning."

He hangs up and Marissa sets the phone down. A tear runs down her face and she crawls into bed, still shivering and pulls the comforter up over her head.

**10:30 PM** –

"AW! Look at that buddy! I totally beat you at that round." Seth said teasingly.

"Yeah, I let you win," replied Ryan.

"Whatever dude." Seth said, walking out the pool house door. "We need to clock in some serious 'Seth/Ryan Time' tomorrow."

"Sounds good man." Ryan said.

Marissa looks over at the clock, restless. **12:00.** She is still shaking in her short black shorts and a red tank top, scared that Volchok will try to do something to her.

How could he have figured out where I am staying? What will he say to me tomorrow? What will happen if I don't go? Marissa thinks.

Marissa finally gets up and walks out into the hall and down the stairs.

(_Forever Young-_ by: Youth Group plays low and soft in the background)

She bounces quietly down the stairs on her tiptoes. She walks slow and quietly through the dark kitchen and towards the pool house. Marissa turns the knob very quietly and walks over to the bed where Ryan is silently laying. She slips off her flip-flops and hesitantly lies down on her side next to Ryan. Ryan turns and looks at the back of her head and then rolls over on his side and wraps his arms around her. She moves her back closer to where she is resting against his chest. They laid in that same position for a while before Marissa rolls over to where she is facing him.

"Sorry,….I just didn't want to be alone," She confessed.

Ryan knows that something happened and that she is scared, without her having to tell him. They have been through too much together for him not to realize when she is in any kind of trouble or pain. Even though they aren't "together" they will always be closer to each other than any other "normal" couple in Newport.

"No. ……Its okay," Ryan pauses, "Everything is going to be okay."

"I was just _scared._ And I couldn't sleep."

"You can lay here as long as you need to," Ryan said.

Marissa rolls back over on her side and lay rested in his arms, holding his strong hand against her own chest. Being here in his arms, made her feel safe and protected. No one could make her feel more secure and loved than Ryan could. It had been that way since the trip to Tijuana. She knew from then on that he was the one that she could trust with anything. She really loved him. That safe feeling she had, put her right to sleep.

Ryan stared at her honey blonde hair. It smelled so good, he thought to himself. All he wanted to do was make her feel protected. Marissa had put him through so much drama and pain but it was all worth it. It was all worth it for moments like these. Moments that he wished he could pause and stay here forever. Ryan wished he didn't have to go off to college in September. He didn't want to be separated from Seth, the Cohen's, and particularly Marissa. Even though Seth could be annoying, and self absorbed, Ryan couldn't survive with out him. And the Cohen's? Well, he didn't know it yet, but he needed them. He loved her more than he could ever imagine and he knew that she felt the same about him. They were just both too scared to say it.

**8:00 Next Morning – **

"Shh." Ryan wakes up to an annoying crunching sound. He looks over; Marissa is still sound asleep next to him.

"Shut up Cohen," Summer whispers, "You're hogging the cereal."

Ryan looks over and sees Seth and Summer sitting cross-legged in the floor eating dry cereal from a box.

"Don't 'Shh' me!" Seth whispers back.

"Do you think we should wake them?" Summer asks, not even paying attention to Ryan staring at them.

Seth looks over at them.

"Well good morning buddy!" Seth says.

"Why are you in here?" asks Ryan.

"Well, since you asked, I came over to find Marissa. So I went into her room and she wasn't there! OH MY GOD. So then I thought 'Well, I wonder if she got kidnapped???' So me and Cohen over here thought we'd go looking for her, when we walked in here and saw… YOU TWO!" Summer said.

"Yeah, by the way, why are you two….together? In here?" Seth wonders.

Marissa wakes up and looks over at Summer and Seth.

"Morning," Seth says to Marissa.

"Well, I think im going to go and get some breakfast," Marissa says as she gets up and slips her flip-flops back on.

"Right behind ya, Coop," Summer says as she follows Marissa out the door.

Seth looks at Ryan sarcastically as Ryan gets up.

"What was that man?" Seth questions.

"Nothing, Seth."

"What do you mean _nothing???_ She was in the freaking pool house. ALL NIGHT."

"Seth, nothing happened," Ryan said, "I swear."

"Whatever, dude," Seth pauses, "You two is hard to figure out sometimes."

"Yeah, let's go get some breakfast."


	4. Chapter 4

(Morning After the call from Volchok)

Seth, Summer, Marissa, and Ryan are seated in a booth at the diner, finishing off a large stack of pancakes.

"Come on my little Summer, we have to go…um…somewhere, far, far away." Seth said.

"Oh yeah, that place…well," Summer looks at Ryan, then at Marissa, "hate to leave you guys, but we have to go."

"Yeah, sure…" Marissa replied sarcastically

"Come on, Cohen" Summer ordered.

"You guys have fun," Seth said to Ryan and Marissa as he and Summer got up out of the booth. "Fun _together,_ that is!"

"See you guys!" Ryan yelled to Seth and Summer as they left the diner.

"So. There's something I need to tell you." Marissa finally said after picking at the pancakes left on her plate.

"Yeah?" Ryan replied.

"Last night," Marissa paused, unsure if she should tell Ryan, "Volchok called me for the 10th time. He wants me to meet him at the pier."

"So that's why you were scared last night?"

"Yeah. How could you tell?"

"I just could tell something was wrong." Ryan paused, "…and you were shaking uncontrollably."

"Yeah, I was pretty freaked, sorry." Marissa said.

"You don't have to go."

"Yeah, I do. He threatened to hurt…you. If I didn't."

"So you want me to go with you?" Ryan asked.

"If you want to, I mean, If you don't have other plans, You don't have to…"

"No. I want to." Ryan replied.

"Thanks." A look of relief spread all over Marissa's face.

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"So you think it's a good idea, Coop and Atwood…maybe getting back together?" Summer questioned Seth after they left the diner.

"Well you know. It never goes too good when they're apart." Seth paused and thought. "I guess it doesn't go to good when they're together either."

"Yeah I know what you mean. They need each other though."

"Oh. Summer. Like you need me??" Seth said teasingly.

"I don't _need_ you Cohen."

"Oh Yeah. But you _want_ me." Seth said as he started to kiss Summer playfully.

"Whatever, Cohen"

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"You sure you want to do this?" Ryan asked as they approached the pier.

"I _have _to."

"Right." Ryan agreed.

"Well, well, well. Look who showed up." Volchok said as Marissa walked toward him. Ryan stayed behind.

"What do you want?" Marissa said.

"I just wanted to talk." Volchok said as he got closer to Marissa. His body was swaying, like he was about to loose his balance.

"Are you high?" Marissa asked, noticing his weird behavior.

"Oh, just a little." Volchok said, his voice getting higher.

Marissa started to back away as Volchok got closer. Ryan noticed her uncomfortableness and moved a little closer to them.

"Just tell me what you wanted to tell me." Marissa said to Volchok.

"I just wanted…" Volchok paused then tried to grab Marissa. "Come with _me._"

"Get away from me!" Marissa warned.

Volchok kept grabbing Marissa, not realizing what he was doing.

"Hey. Get away from her." Ryan said, forcefully.

"You cant tell me what to do." Volchok said. He reached for Marissa.

"Hey!" Ryan yelled. Ryan approached Volchok as he grabbed a hold of Marissa. Ryan punched Volchok hard right across the face. He fell on the sand, too stoned to fight back. Marissa ran into Ryan's arms, Volchok now passed out on the ground.

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"Hey Ryan?" Kirsten said, as Ryan entered the kitchen from the pool house.

"Yeah."

"Run upstairs and get Marissa. Seth is about to go get dinner."

"Okay." Ryan replied.

Ryan ran upstairs and knocked on Marissa's door.

"Hey. Dinners almost here," Ryan paused and waited for a response. He opened the door and looked around the empty room. He ran back downstairs.

"She's not here." Ryan told Kirsten.

"Huh. Do you know where she went?"

"No," Ryan paused, "You want me to go get the takeout?"

"Yeah, tell Seth." Kirsten said, knowing what his intentions were.

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"Hey." Ryan said as he walked up to the lifeguard stand.

"Hey." Marissa said. She was sitting there in her normal spot, looking out into the distance.

"You okay?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah…" Marissa paused.

"Hey, sorry about today, I tried not to punch him, but I just couldn't help it. "

"I know. Im glad you did though. Thanks."

They both sat there, side by side, gazing into each other's eyes, not saying a word, but knowing what the other was thinking.

("Far Away" by Nickelback plays in the background) lyrics at bottom

They both slowly leaned toward each other, then into a deep, passionate kiss. Marissa pulled away.

"I love you." She said. Ryan kissed her soft on the lips.

"I…I love you too." He replied. Marissa smiled. Somehow, she knew everything would be okay. She kissed him again.

"Let's make a pact, to never let something, or someone come between us again." Marissa suggested.

"Yeah, because I don't know if I could do that again, you know, the whole 'being apart' thing." He said.

Marissa smiles, "Me either, Its harder than it looks."

"So, we should probably go get the Thai and head back to the Cohen's." Ryan said.

"Sounds perfect." She said.

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**hope you liked it! PLEASE REVIEW! open to any comments or suggestions!**

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**Far Away Lyrics By: Nickelback**

This time, This place  
Misused, Mistakes  
Too long, Too late  
Who was I to make you wait  
Just one chance  
Just one breath  
Just in case there's just one left  
'Cause you know,  
you know, you know

_CHORUS_  
That I love you  
I have loved you all along  
And I miss you  
Been far away for far too long  
I keep dreaming you'll be with me  
and you'll never go  
Stop breathing if  
I don't see you anymore

On my knees, I'll ask  
Last chance for one last dance  
'Cause with you, I'd withstand  
All of hell to hold your hand  
I'd give it all  
I'd give for us  
Give anything but I won't give up  
'Cause you know,  
you know, you know

_CHORUS_

So far away  
Been far away for far too long  
So far away  
Been far away for far too long  
But you know, you know, you know

I wanted  
I wanted you to stay  
'Cause I needed  
I need to hear you say  
That I love you  
I have loved you all along  
And I forgive you  
For being away for far too long  
So keep breathing  
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore  
Believe it  
Hold on to me and, never let me go  
Keep breathing  
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore  
Believe it  
Hold on to me and, never let me go  
Keep breathing  
Hold on to me and, never let me go  
Keep breathing  
Hold on to me and, never let me go


End file.
